Front office
What is a PMS in a hotel?
A hotel PMS, or property management system, is the software that runs a hotel's daily operations: reservations, room allocation, check-in and check-out, housekeeping status, guest billing and reports. It is the system of record for rooms, guests and revenue.
What a PMS does
Core functions include:
- Reservations and a room calendar
- Check-in, check-out and the guest registration card
- Guest folios, payments and invoices
- Housekeeping status for each room
- The night audit and daily reports
Cloud vs on-premise
An on-premise PMS runs on a server inside the hotel. A cloud PMS runs in a data centre and is used through a browser or app, so owners can see the business from anywhere and updates arrive without a visit. See cloud PMS vs on-premise and how to choose a hotel PMS.
In StaySynq
StaySynq is a cloud hotel PMS with front desk, housekeeping, restaurant POS, banquets, GST billing and an automated night audit in one system.
Common questions
What is the difference between a PMS and a channel manager?
The PMS runs the hotel. The channel manager distributes its rooms and rates to OTAs.
Does a PMS include a restaurant POS?
Some do. Where it is separate, restaurant bills have to be transferred to the guest folio through an integration.
Related terms
- Channel managerA channel manager is software that connects a hotel to its online travel agencies (OTAs). It sends the hotel's rates and availability to every channel at once and passes bookings, changes and cancellations back, so the same room is not sold twice.
- FolioA folio is the running account of everything a guest is charged and everything they pay during a stay: room nights, restaurant bills, minibar, laundry, taxes, deposits and payments. At check-out the folio is settled and becomes the basis for the invoice.
- Night auditA night audit is the daily routine that closes one hotel business day and opens the next. It posts the night's room and tax charges to guest folios, reconciles the day's payments and cash, identifies no-shows and errors, and produces the daily reports for management.
- GRC (guest registration card)A GRC, or guest registration card, is the form completed at check-in that records who is staying: name, address, ID details, nationality, arrival and departure dates, room and rate, and the guest's signature. It is the hotel's legal record of the stay.
Ready to unify your operations?
Book a 30-minute demo. We'll walk through your specific property type, room count, and channel mix, then show you exactly what your data looks like on StaySynq.
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